QK Southampton 14 v 0 Michelmersh & Timsbury

Saturday 30th July 2022, Kick-off 15.00
Pre-season Friendly
The Hive (Lordshill Rec), Southampton
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Attendance: 20 (rough headcount)

Today was the first day of the  new competitive season....but unfortunately, not for me. Not many leagues were starting up today, and the nearest new grounds for me to visit would have been 89 and 125 miles away, with train strikes by several train companies making journeys to those on public transport either impossible or fraught with risk of severe delays. I decided to play safe and stick to the Southern train network, which was not affected by strike action, although a loose plan to head for a friendly at Wimborne Town was scuppered by a late night at a "party in the park" leaving me feeling no inclination to get up in time to make the midday kick-off there. And so I decided to head over to Southampton, to visit a Hampshire League venue that I had heard good things about.

The Hive, more traditionally known as Lordshill Rec, is about a 30-40 minute bus ride from Southampton Central train station, and access is gained either through a kissing gate and a short footpath  through woodland to pitchside, or through gates into a fairly large gravel covered car park located behind one corner of the football pitch. The pitch is fully railed, in club colours of black and yellow, but no floodlights are present. Apart from the dugouts, all of the ground's facilities are along one length. Straddling the half way line are a couple of container units set in parallel housing the changing rooms, with a further unit connecting the two along the back, and an archway with a club welcome message to the front. To one side is another container unit housing some bar tables and stools, and from a counter hot, cold and alcoholic drinks, and snacks, are available. Alongside the unit, a couple of wooden picnic tables are located on a grass area enclosed by metal fencing. Next to that area is a raised flat concrete base which used to have a home made stand installed on it, but that had to be removed soon after installation several years ago. To the other side of the changing rooms, there is a standalone building housing toilet facilities. All of the various building are painted in dark green, which helps them blend in to the surroundings well. There is a tall hedgerow behind one length, which separates the football ground from a large expanse of playing fields, while beyond a wooden fence behind the end closest to the entrance there are two rugby pitches which are railed and floodlit. That would suggest that installing floodlights at the football ground shouldn't be a major difficulty, and it seems that there is plenty of scope to carry out the necessary improvements if the club did wish to rise into the National League System at some stage - should finances and ambition allow. As it stands, the ground is well above par for a Step 7 club, and has nice touches giving the place identity.

QK Southampton won the Hampshire League Division One last season by three points, winning 15 and drawing one of their 18 league games. They are looking forward to life back in the Premier Division after an absence of three seasons. Michelmersh & Timsbury finished in seventh place in the ten club Division One, following seven wins and a draw from their 18 league games.

Not only will the visitors’ first team ply their trade in the division below the hosts this coming season, but also in the morning, the visitors tweeted that they would field a "mixed team today of first and reserves against a strong QK side" As it turned out, their side really was cobbled together with some veteran players included too, and it became clear almost immediately that this would be a horrible mismatch of a game, when the hosts scored their first in the opening minute, when a deft touch took the striker past the defence before placing a cool finish past the keeper. By the time half time arrived, QK had added a further six goals, including a penalty, as the home players were quicker to the ball, found it far too easy to run through midfield and at static and slow defenders, and with defensive organisation all over the place for the visitors, understandably to some extent with a cobbled together side. 

The second half continued in the same vein, and QK's determination to stay on the front foot was rewarded with a further seven goals, although the final score should have been even more emphaatic, with QK hitting the woodwork twice, the visiting keeper making several outstanding saves, and a couple of gilt edged chances were spurned.

In honesty, it is difficult to know what either side gained from this encounter. QK will surely not encounter such poor opposition in the league, and presumably - hopefully - Michelmersh will field much stronger teams than this during their league campaign.

Banbury United 3 v 0 North Leigh

Saturday 23rd July 2022, Kick-off 15.00
Pre-season Friendly
Spencer Stadium, Banbury
Admission: £8.00
Programme: None
Attendance: 310

After my original plan to visit Soham Town Rangers for a double of games was thwarted when the first team game was cancelled yesterday, I decided to head for Banbury instead, where I had intended to visit a few weeks ago but those plans had to be abandoned thanks to a bout of mild Covid.

The Spencer Stadium is conveniently located about 5 minutes walk from Banbury station, and there is certainly a lot to like about the ground with plenty of  quirky and old fashioned features. A very friendly welcome on approaching the turnstile was a theme maintained by everyone I came across throughout my visit. Just inside the turnstile, a marquee is erected from where 50-50 tickets and programmes are sold - although the latter, not today, and the club did make clear in advance that programmes would not be produced for today's fixture. To the left of the entrance is a fairly long clubhouse building, which is bright and very spacious inside and has windows along the front to make an excellent place to watch the action from in inclement weather. Marston's brewery produce a beer especially for Banbury United, Puritan's Smooth, available on draft and made a nice change from the usual lagers on offer at clubhouses. To the right of the entrance is a small building housing the management office along with a large wall with the club’s initials painted on it, whilst towards the far corner there is a a fairly large all-seater stand, finished in club colours of red and yellow. A burger van is located behind the corner, and a tea bar hatch is located behind a terrace, which is covered by corrugated sheets behind the entire end, with the terrace becoming uncovered as it stretches around the corner and to almost the half way line. A nice touch is a small manual scoreboard located on the wire fence behind the uncovered section of terracing, along with a tea bar, but which was not in operation today. There is just hard standing along the rest of this length and behind the remaining goal, apart from a small modern metallic stand behind the goal. The backdrop is a mixture of rural and old fashioned industrial buildings, and it is nice to see plenty of quirkiness and little decorative touches around the ground giving the place plenty of identity, and with a minimum of bland or identikit furniture.

This relatively local Oxfordshire derby would be between two clubs very much on an upward trajectory, with both clubs looking forward to life at the highest level they have ever played at. Banbury United absolutely stormed the Southern League Premier Division Central last season, finishing top by 23 points, accumulating 102 points from 40 league games, scoring 92 goals in the process. Next season may prove something of a culture shock for Banbury in more ways than one though, having been placed in the National League North, and so can look forward to long away days up north to the likes of Blyth Spartans, Spennymoor and Darlington. North Leigh are looking forward to life in the division that Banbury have left behind, having earned promotion from the Southern League Division One Central. It is probably fair to say that the small village club exceeded all expectations, and they only made the play-offs because Welwyn Garden City were barred from taking part, having finished the season in sixth place, before beating Berkhamsted, a club they trailed by 13 points in the final league standings, in the semi-final, and then Ware in the final. It will be interesting to see how North Leigh get on at the highest level the club has ever played at.

On a mostly cloudy and relatively cool afternoon (compared with the recent heatwave) which made conditions much more pleasant for all concerned, Banbury started the game strongly, although North Leigh soon settled down and the game became quite even for the most part, Banbury always enjoying more possession and sights on goal, but the visitors probablt creating the better chances to open the scoring, their best chance coming on 34 minutes when Roger James side stepped the goalkeeper before lashing a shot against the left hand post from a slight angle. But a minute before the break, Banbury opened the scoring after the ball was laid off for Jack Stevens to run down the left before crossing low for Henry Landers to poke the ball home first time from close range, deflecting off the keeper en route.

The second half saw Banbury really turn on the style as the visitors struggled to cope at times with Banbury's incisive play. The hosts scored their second on 63 minutes after a rushed North Leigh free kick in their own half conceded possession, a Banbury player surged forward towards the byline, then crossed the ball low to Stevens, who swept the ball home. And Banbury scored their third on 67 minutes, when the ball was switched from right to left of the area to the feet of Ben Acquaye, who cut inside before lashing the ball in off the inside of the near post from the edge of the area. The hosts had some good chances to score further goals, but their tally stayed at three. 

This was an entertaining game to watch, with plenty of good football on show and North Leigh showed enough, in the first half certainly, to suggest that they should hold their own at their high level in the coming season. As for Banbury, this was certainly good preparation for their season ahead in the unknown of the National League North.

Video highlights of the goals can be viewed by clicking here

More substantial highlights can be viewed by clicking here